IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0304727.html

Be careful what you wish for: Individuals perceived to desire status are afforded less status

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew L Choi
  • Cameron Anderson

Abstract

In multiple studies, we found that people who are viewed as possessing a stronger desire for status are, ironically, afforded lower status by others. Coworkers who were viewed as having a higher (versus lower) desire for status (Study 1a and 1b), and individuals who were described as having a higher desire for status (versus a lower desire for status or no information), were afforded lower status (Studies 2, 3a, and 3b). Mediation analyses and an experimental manipulation of the mediator (Study 3a and 3b) suggested that the observed negative effect of desire for status on status was mediated primarily by perceptions of low prosociality. These findings have important implications for status organizing processes in groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew L Choi & Cameron Anderson, 2024. "Be careful what you wish for: Individuals perceived to desire status are afforded less status," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(6), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0304727
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304727
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0304727
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0304727&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0304727?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anderson, Cameron & Brion, Sebastien & Moore, Don A. & Kennedy, Jessica A., 2012. "A status-enhancement account of overconfidence," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt6s5812wf, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    2. Gavin J. Kilduff & Robb Willer & Cameron Anderson, 2016. "Hierarchy and Its Discontents: Status Disagreement Leads to Withdrawal of Contribution and Lower Group Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 373-390, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kim, Tami & Sezer, Ovul & Schroeder, Juliana & Risen, Jane & Gino, Francesca & Norton, Michael I., 2021. "Work group rituals enhance the meaning of work," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 197-212.
    2. Antioco, Michael & Coussement, Kristof, 2018. "Misreading of consumer dissatisfaction in online product reviews: Writing style as a cause for bias," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 301-310.
    3. Hecker, Britta & Shure, Nikki & Yükselen Saif, Ipek, 2026. "Mind the Confidence Gap: Gender, Domain-Specific Self-Beliefs, and STEM Pathways," IZA Discussion Papers 18535, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Chen, Yangyang & Ofosu, Emmanuel & Veeraraghavan, Madhu & Zolotoy, Leon, 2023. "Does CEO overconfidence affect workplace safety?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Dao, Hung M. & Lehmann, Selina L. & Acar, Oguz A. & Deichmann, Dirk, 2026. "Not all success is created equal: The innovation costs of extreme success," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    6. Zaggl, Michael A., 2017. "Manipulation of explicit reputation in innovation and knowledge exchange communities: The example of referencing in science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 970-983.
    7. Cafferata, Fernando G. & Dominguez, Patricio & Scartascini, Carlos, 2025. "Overconfidence and preferences for gun use: Evidence from six countries in the Americas," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. Tiziana Assenza & Alberto Cardaci & Stefanie Huber, 2024. "Fake News: Susceptibility, Awareness, and Solutions," ECONtribute Policy Brief Series 065, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    9. Louis Lévy-Garboua & Muniza Askari & Marco Gazel, 2018. "Confidence biases and learning among intuitive Bayesians," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 84(3), pages 453-482, May.
    10. Klein, Nadav, 2025. "The small-world illusion: Overestimating the frequency of in-person interactions with acquaintances," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    11. Kausel, Edgar E. & Culbertson, Satoris S. & Leiva, Pedro I. & Slaughter, Jerel E. & Jackson, Alexander T., 2015. "Too arrogant for their own good? Why and when narcissists dismiss advice," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 33-50.
    12. Moy, Naomi & Chan, Ho Fai & Septianto, Felix & Mathmann, Frank & Torgler, Benno, 2024. "Confidence is Good? too Much, not so Much: Exploring the effects on crowdfunding success," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    13. Sam Garg & Qiang John Li & Jason D. Shaw, 2019. "Entrepreneurial firms grow up: Board undervaluation, board evolution, and firm performance in newly public firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(11), pages 1882-1907, November.
    14. Susan R Fisk & Jon Overton, 2020. "Bold or reckless? The impact of workplace risk-taking on attributions and expected outcomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, March.
    15. Haran, Uriel & Mazar, Asaf & Hurwitz, Mordechai & Moran, Simone, 2022. "Confidently at your service: Advisors alter their stated confidence to be helpful," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    16. Kilduff, Gavin J. & Anderson, Cameron & Willer, Robb, 2013. "Consensus and Contribution: Shared Status Hierarchies Promote Group Success," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt77q7n684, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    17. Alice Soldà & Changxia Ke & Lionel Page & William von Hippel, 2020. "Strategically delusional," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(3), pages 604-631, September.
    18. Andy J. Yap & Nikhil Madan & Phanish Puranam, 2022. "Formal Hierarchy As a Source of Upward Status Disagreement? A Theoretical Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 464-482, January.
    19. Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Shure, Nikki, 2022. "The gender gap in top jobs – The role of overconfidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Kim, Mindy (Hyo Jung), 2021. "Effects of managerial overconfidence and ability on going-concern decisions and auditor turnover," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0304727. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.